"Houston's Black Elk Energy facing criminal charges for fatal Gulf expolsion," 17 August 2015

Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Black Elk Energy, accusing the Houston-based company of safety lapses that led to a fatal expolsion at one of its Gulf of Mexico production platforms three years ago...Nov 16, 2012 blast killed three Filipino construction workers and injured several others on the platform...Black Elk Energy violated five offshore safety regulations by failing to ensure a wet oil tank on the platform was clear of flammable gases before workers began welding on a pipe that led to it...vapors from the wet oil tank ignited, setting off a series of explosions in three oil tanks on the platform...[a]pproximatley 480 barrels of oil and water also alleged to have negligently been spilled into the Gulf of Mexico as a result, providing the basis for a Clean Water Act violation that carries a potential fine of $528,000. 

...A Black Elk Energy spokesman and a lawyer for the firm did not return calls seeking comment...

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